Letters from the Issue of May 26, 2005

Karaoke? Got your karaoke right here: Once again Miami New Times has failed to actually conduct research before choosing the best of anything ("Best of Miami," May 12). I run Karaoke Miami, which has several locations in Miami-Dade. Any one of the places I run, or any run by Boogie Man George Entertainment, would be a much better choice than Hooligan's on Saturday.

Given that there was clearly no choice for most people on Saturdays, I was able to start a successful karaoke Saturday night at Seven Seas Bar that has expanded to two nights per week.

As I have said in the past, Best Karaoke should be the readers' choice, not the choice of the "Best of Miami" writers. But if the writers are going to choose, then they need to get out to different shows and do more research.

Bernie Ravelo

Westchester

Second-Best Self-Promotion

I catch a serial rapist and what thanks do I get? I agree with your choice of Code 33 as Best Movie Shot on Location. It was great, but it had a problem: There was a hole in the documentary. They didn't include me.

I bring to your attention Rebecca Wakefield's article "Crime and Argument" (January 15, 2004), which described how I led the cops to the Shenandoah rapist and how the cops took the credit. I can prove it now since more evidence has surfaced. But it was still a great documentary.

Joe Carrillo

Miami

Editor's note: Owing to an editing error, the winner of Best Sunday Brunch appeared to be a tie between Nemo restaurant and the Shore Club Hotel, both on South Beach. The winner was Nemo (100 Collins Ave., 305-532-4550).

Jimmy Morales, Publisher

Forget politics, start a newspaper: Brett Sokol's article about the failed mayoral campaign of Jimmy Morales ("Acute Democratitis," May 19) brought up an important point about Miami politics that everyone seems to neglect. Combine Anglo and black voters and you have the largest voting bloc in the county. It is easy to forget that, even though Hispanics are slightly more than half the population, the majority of Hispanics are not eligible to vote. A third of Cuban Americans are not eligible, and among other Hispanics (with the exception of Puerto Ricans) the number is even higher.

The Hispanic vote, instead of being monolithic, actually comprises progressives and staunch conservatives who seldom see things in the same light. This means the Anglo and black vote will decide countywide politics for quite a while. Notwithstanding, Hispanics have been savvy in the drawing of political boundaries, as have blacks, leaving Anglos in the unusual position of being underrepresented on the county commission.

The role of the Miami Herald is outsized as well. Ironically enough, it is still legitimized in the minds of many Anglos because of its former exposure of corruption and mismanagement among local government officials, including Cuban Americans, even as it has abandoned this -- or any other sort of journalism. Jim DeFede, who earned his muckraking cred at New Times, has now become an institutional hack.

With the Herald stumbling along as a badly written booster sheet for local mediocrity, and with New Times seemingly divorced from the fray (perhaps fearing that news is a "downer"), Jimmy Morales's efforts might be more effectively used in starting a new newspaper.

John Santiago Stella

New York

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